Cribbing



March 23 1926.

D. A. HULTGREN ET AL CRIBBING Filed Feb.' 23, 1924 @V6/fior' dnk/fa/@raw (Za/@ 77a' fr ex%j Patented Mar. 23, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID A. HULTGREN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, AND CLARENCE TAYLOR, OF EASTORANGE, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNORS TO MASSEY CONCRETE PRODUCTS CORPORA- TION,OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF VIRGINIA.

CRIBBING.

Application filed February 23, 1924. Serial No. 694,489.

T0 all whom it may concern Be it known that we, DAVID A. HUL'IGREN andCLARENCE TAYLOR, citizens of the United States, and residents,respectively, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois,and East Orange, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, haveinvented certain new and useful Improve- Inents in Cribbing, of whichthe following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description,I'eference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis speciication. f This invention relates to cribbing for use inconstructing retaining walls such as employed to hold the iills andembankments of railways.

The object of the invention is to provide a retaining wall, the frontface of which will be practically tight so as to prevent the escape ofdirt or gravel therethrough, and which will consist of ,simple partswhich may be easily assembled into a rigid wall.

It is believed the invention will be understood most readily from adescription thereof taken in connection with the accompanying drawings,in which- Ficrure 1 shows a face view of one form of applicantsretaining wall;

Figure 2 is a vertical section through the wall shown in Figure 1, takenon theplane represented by the line 2 -2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the headers employed in constructingthe wall;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of one of the rear stretchers;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of one of the forward stretchers, and YFigure 6 is a section similar to that shown in Figure 2 through aportion of a wall in which a modified form of forward stretcher Theforward stretchers 12 are preferably rectangular in cross section attheir ends where they rest upon the headers 10, but intermediate of theheaders they are provided with the upwardly and downwardly extendingflanges 15, as shown in Figure 5.

The rear stretchers 13 are preferably rectangular in cross sectionthroughout their length, as indicated in Figure 4. If desired, however,the stretchers 12 may be employed at both the forward and rear sides ofthe retaining wall.4 It is, of course, to be understood that the headersand stretchers will preferably be formed of concrete or like material,as is usual in structures of this character, and will comprise suchreinforcing rods as are necessary to give them the required strength.

In constructing the wall, the headers 10 are disposed with the flanges14 extending in a vertical direction, and ends of the stretchers 12 or13 are disposed between each onev of the headers 10 and the nextadjacent one.

Referring now to Figure 2, it will be noted that beginning at thebottom, the stretchers 12 and 13 are disposed below the lowermost headerbars 10. These will preferably be so arranged that the forwardstretchers will be slightly higher than the rear ones so that the faceof the wall will be slightly rearwardly inclined. The lon ermo'st headerbars are. positioned upon the stretchers with the ianges 14 projectingvertically immediately adjacent to the outer edges of the stretchers.The stretcher bars will be arranged in substantially the same plane andspaced apart horizontally distances substantially equal to the length ofthe stretchers so that the ends of the headers 10 will overlie theabutting ends of the stretchers. The stretcher bars are then placed uponthe headers immediately adjacent to the flanges 14 at the ends thereofwith their ends in abutting relation over the headers. This process iscarried on, placing the stretchers on top of the headers, and then theheaders on top of the stretchers, in much the same ,manner as a railfence might be constructed, until the wall has reached its requiredheight. Due to the simple character of the header and stretcher bars,the wall may be readily constructed by unskilled workmen, and, in fact,may be readily constructed by a single workman'if the individual barsare made of such a size that one man can handle them.

When the wall is of considerable height, say twelve feet or so, asecondary or supplemental course of headers and another course ofstretchers may be provided at the rear of the first course, as indicatedat the left in Figure 2. The headers of the rear course will projectbetween the rear stretchers 13 of the forward course with their endsprojecting through sufiiciently so that the flanges 14 of therearheaders will engage the forward faces of the rear stretchers 13 ofthe forward course. Another tier of stretchers 13 will, of course, beprovided at the rear of the'headers of the second course in the sainemanner as used in connection with the first course.

If it should be desired to form an exceptionally high wall, two or` evenmore supplemental courses of headers and stretchers may be provided,each course preferably being of a height less than the preceding course.As the spaces between the headers and stretchers are filled in withdlrt, gravel, or. other material, the whole structure becomes rmlyanchored together and the rear or supplemental courses will act toprevent the forward course from being shoved outwardly b the pressure ofthe embankment.

As thelieaders are supported on the abutting ends of the stretchers andthe stretchers are in turn supported on the headers, considerable weightis brought to bear on the joints between the members at the bottom ofthe wall due to the weight of the headers and stretchers, and also tothe pressure of the material placed therein, so that the whole structureis firmly bound together. The space between the forward stretchers ispractically closed by the upwardly .and downwardly extending flanges 15provided on the forward stretchers 12, thus preventing the escape ofdirt and gravel therebetween. It is to be understood, however, that theianges 15 should not be of such a length as to permit them to ride oneach other and thus prevent firm enga ement of the headers andstretchers where iey overlap.

The forward stretchers 16, shown in Flgure 6, differ from the stretchers152.l in that each has a single upwardly extending flange 17 instead ofthe upwardly and downwardly extending flanges 15. It will be understood,however, that the flange 17 is of somewhat greater width than the flange15 employed in connection with the stretcher 12. With this construction,the upper edge of the flange 17 will be positioned below the forwardedge of the stretcher above, and even though a slight crack is left, itwill be so positioned that little or no dirt or gravel will escapetherethrough.

It is to be understood that applicants contemplate slight modificationsin certain features of the retaining wall herein disclosed and theinvention, therefore, should be limited merely by the scope of theappended claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A retaining wall constructed of selfsupporting cribbing comprising aplurality of headers arranged in superposed spaced courses, a course ofstretchers positioned between one course of headers and the next, eachof said headers having T-shaped extremities arranged with the T-flangesdisposed in a substantially vertical plane, each of said stretchershaving a flat bottom surface across its entire width and having a singleclosure flange projecting upwardly from the upper surface of saidstretcher, said closure ange being of a depth substantially equal to thevertical thickness of the adjacent header, and all of said stretchershaving their closure flanges notched back from the ends of thestretchers for receiving said headers whereby the joints betweenadjacent stretchers of each course all occur in alignment -with theT-shaped ends of said headers.

2. A retaining wall comprising a plurality of headers arranged insuperposed spaced courses, a course of stretchers positioned between onecourse of headers and the next, each of said headers having T-shapedextremities arranged with the Tfianges disposed in a substantiallyvertical plane, each of said -stretchers having a flat bottom surfaceacross its entire width and having a single closure flange projectingupwardly kfrom the upper surface of said stretcher,

said stretchers being of a length equal to the horizontal spacingbetween adjacent tiers of headers and having their closure fiangesnotched back from the ends of the stretchers for receiving the headerswith the T-shaped ends overlapping the joints between adjacentstretchers.

Cribbing of the class described, comprislng a plurality of headersarranged in super osed spaced courses, a course of strete ers positionedbetween one course of headers and the next, each of said headers havingT-shaped extremities arranged with the T-flanges disposed in asubstantially vertical plane, each of said stretchers comprising a mainbody portion of rectangular cross section having a fiat surface onone ofits horizontal sides, and comprising a closure flange of rectangularcross section projecting from the opposite side with its outer surfaceextending Hush and in the same plane with the outer surface of said mainbody portion, said closure ianges being of sufcient depth substantiallyto en age the flat underside of the adjacent stretcher, said stretchersbeing of a length equal to the horizontal spacing between ad]aeent tiersof headers and having their closure flanges notched back from the ends othe stretohers for receiving the headers with the T-sha ed endsoverlapping the joints between a jacent stretchers.

In witness whereof, we hereunto Sub- 'scrbe our names as follows:

Chicago, Illinois, January 26th, 1924.

DAVID A. HULTGREN.

New Jersey, Feb. 16th, 1924.

